Florist’s New Single Is as ‘Cool and Refreshing’ as Its Title Suggests

The Brooklyn folk act will release their 'Holdly' EP on October 30

The music that Emily Sprague makes as Florist sneaks up on you. Delicately plucked acoustic guitars and pools of stolid synthwork collide with Sprague’s weary whispers, it’s always beautifully unassuming stuff — especially when compared to the booming thunderclaps of Florist’s compatriots in Brooklyn’s Epoch Collective like Eskimeaux, Told Slant, and Bellows. But over the past few years, Sprague (along with Rick Spataro, Jonnie Baker, and Told Slant’s Felix Walworth) has developed a knack for building vibrant existential musings and emotional wreckage out of that sonic meekness.

New single “Cool and Refreshing” follows in that same vein, using the sensation of water at your knees as the spark for meditations on “staring at the sky” and “trying to be fine.” At the peak of the song, Sprague summits the gentle clatter of Spataro’s drums to offer a subtle proclamation “it’s terrifying,” but it doesn’t really feel like it. Even when grappling with heavy themes, Sprague and the song’s instrumentals project a levelheadedness that’s as relaxing as the title would suggest. This track’s drawn from a new EP called Holdly, due out October 30 on Double Double Whammy but you can stream it right here.